geoawelch Posted July 4 Posted July 4 Recently transitioning from 1/35 Armor to WWII 1/32 Aircraft. I’m well aware of Tamiya/Kotare and other top flight and top $$$ offerings, but am looking for other suggestions for kits that are kinder to the wallet, while still building into good representations. My interest is in WWII American, British and Japanese aircraft. What I have so far (all in 1/32): Tamiya Zero Kotare Spitfire Hasegawa New Tool Zero Hasegawa Kit-84 Appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. Cheers, George BiggTim 1
jeroen_R90S Posted July 4 Posted July 4 Some of the newer Revell kits, though they require some more work to assemble (there are KLP build guides for some): Hurricane IIb/Sea Hurri, P-51D-5 & D-15 for example. Their new-ish Spitfires II & IX didn't impress me much & I sold them. Trumpeter P-47 Razorback is nice too and costs half of a Tamiya kit. The Tamiya Spitfire XVI is one of their less popular Sptifre releases & can be found on sale or 2nd hand for a decent price, though given your list that's probably on your radar already. coogrfan and geoawelch 2
dennismcc Posted July 4 Posted July 4 Hasegawa kits are one of my favourite makes of kit, I have not built a bad one of theirs yet though some of their older kits need some help. Revell modern kits are good value and build nicely, though their older kits can with some work clean up as well. Special Hobby can be a bit hit and miss but they do make kits of subjects that the other manufacturers ignore and with a bit of basic modelling skills they turn out well. Trumpeter make kits of subjects that others ignore though they can be hit or miss from the top of the range to a mess, so research well before buying. Pacific Coast Models make kits of some really obscure subjects, but unless you like a lot of sanding, test fitting and more sanding keep away, though they do finish up looking rather good and are generally accurate. Hobbyboss and Trumpeter are owned by the same company so are similar. ICM kits, from reviews and build threads these are well engineered kits though I have not built any. Zoukei Mura I have not built any but from build threads they seem to build up well and are accurate but to me look over engineered with lots of internal parts Hope this helps Cheers Dennis geoawelch 1
Phantom2 Posted July 5 Posted July 5 (edited) All of the ICM kits are wonderful, fit very well and are resonable priced. Hasegawa´s line of newer kits (-80´s and 90´s vintage) are really good and well detailed, very good fit and fun builds, but they are quite basic and the decals are so-so, check Scalemates! Revells newer kits (Spitfire Mk.IX, Hurricane, Fw190A-8, Me 262, Bf109G-6/10 & G-2/4, BaE Hawk) are all quite good kits, but check Scalemates first. In many Revell boxes you can find old Hasegawa kits (no bad thing at all in fact), once again, check Scalemates! The newer Special Hobby kits are what I call "short-run light", compareble to -90´s Airfix, no location pins but fit and detail are very good, good decals. Trumpeter/Hobbyboss are generally good kits, good fit and well detailed, and accuracy might vary, decals are usable but so-so. PCM/Azur/Infinity/Fly and Older Special Hobby kits are "pure" short-run, usually pretty good fit but these kits can or will demand work and some modelling skills. But even if they are more work, they are very, very rewarding builds! Stefan Edited July 5 by Phantom2 geoawelch 1
MikeC Posted July 5 Posted July 5 36 minutes ago, Phantom2 said: In many Revell boxes you can find old Hasegawa kits (no bad thing at all in fact), once again, check Scalemates! Revell have also reboxed some of the ICM kits, one that springs to mind is the Tiger Moth. This can get somewhat confusing, as Revell have also, in the past, reboxed the venerable old Matchbox Tiggie. geoawelch 1
Phantom2 Posted July 5 Posted July 5 (edited) 38 minutes ago, MikeC said: Revell have also reboxed some of the ICM kits, one that springs to mind is the Tiger Moth. This can get somewhat confusing, as Revell have also, in the past, reboxed the venerable old Matchbox Tiggie. Yes, you can find Hasegawa, New ICM, Old Matchbox, New Special Hobby and Even Older Monogram kits in new, shiny Revell-boxes. That´s why I´ll recommend to check the kits on Scalemates! https://www.scalemates.com/ Otherwise, they are as a box with chocolates(?), You´ll never know what you get in a Revell-box... I have found out the hard way.... Stefan Edited July 5 by Phantom2 geoawelch, Shoggz, MikeC and 1 other 1 3
dutik Posted July 5 Posted July 5 ICMs CR.42 Falco is an excellent kit right out of the box. Any boxing. Also ICMs I-153 and I-16 kits. Regards - dutik
Phantom2 Posted July 6 Posted July 6 (edited) 8 hours ago, Christa said: You might find joy in some vintage Matchbox kits. Oh Yes, Christa, I really do! I have built the Lysander and the Warhawk, both old Matchbox kits and they are really fun builds, and I have several others to go. But If a newcomer buys an old sparsley detailed, ill-fitting kit in a new shiny box, will he ever buy a Revell-kit again? I wouldn´t... But If the manufacturer are honest and say "Hey Beware, this is an old tooling from the -60´s, have fun", on the box, then I can decide for myself! Much like Airfix does, let the consumer decide and no one needs to feeling cheated and robbed. Stefan Edited July 6 by Phantom2 Christa 1
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